Former ref Bill Friday says Howe hated getting caught

Long-time NHL and WHA referee Bill Friday talked to NHL.com's Evan Weiner about his most vivid memories while toting a whistle, and some of his most colourful stories pertained to Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe:

January 12, NHL.com: "Gordie was a great guy," Friday said. "Gordie would only get mad at you if you looked back and caught him doing something behind your back. The only reason he got mad at you was only because you caught him. I really enjoyed refereeing when Gordie played. He'd trip a guy, he elbowed, whatever, because Gordie always had in the back of his mind that this guy might have done something a week before and Gordie would get him. I always knew Gordie was going to do something and I always looked back behind me and every once in a while I would catch him. I never really saw Gordie in too many fights, nobody challenged him."
...
Friday said he was lucky. He only witnessed the throwing of the octopus on the ice in Detroit a couple of times.

"I worked the playoffs there. They (the octopi) are slimy looking things and they weren't exactly something you wanted to pick up in your hands," he said.
...
Friday's career spanned from chicken wire to blue pucks and included the first and last WHA games and lots of stories, all of which were true. Friday also had a lot of Gordie Howe's games in the last six years of his career and he still looked behind the play to see what Gordie was doing and sometimes he caught Gordie doing something and Gordie would get mad.

"Gordie is Gordie. I would be disappointed if he didn't," said Friday with a laugh about his hockey tales.